Honoring N. Lynn Eckhert, MD, MPH, DrPH

Dr. N. Lynn Eckhert is currently serving as Interim Dean of the Lebanese American University in Beirut and Director of Academic Programs at Partners Healthcare International in Boston. Dr. Eckhert is Professor of Family Medicine and Community Health, Professor in the Graduate School of Nursing and Adjunct Professor in Public Health at the University of Massachusetts Medical School and a Senior Lecturer in Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School. More

Dr. Eckhert ‘s presentation will highlight the story of Elizabeth Blackwell, the first woman to receive a medical degree in the United States. Upon learning of the extraordinary life of Dr. Blackwell, she undertook the task of sharing this life with others. She went on to write “A Lady Alone,” a one woman play about the life of Dr. Blackwell.

Allan Brandt, Ph.D., Dean, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences; Professor of the History of Science; Amalie Moses Kass Professor of the History of Medicine

Julio Frenk, M.D., Ph.D., Dean of the Faculty, Harvard School of Public Health; T & G Angelopoulos Professor of Public Health and International Development, Harvard School of Public Health and Harvard Kennedy School

In Nazi Germany, the medical profession justified the killing of millions of “undesirable” individuals through appeals to racist ideology and eugenics. Healers and caretakers became killers, and medical research devolved into inhumane and unethical experimentation.

Please join us for an engaging discussion as we explore how German physicians became involved in the criminal actions of the Nazi regime and how international reaction to their involvement has profoundly affected medical ethics today.

Visit the travelling exhibit, “Deadly Medicine: Creating the Master Race,” at the Countway Library, April 14 – July 17, 2011. A traveling exhibit of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, “Deadly Medicine” provokes reflection on the continuing attraction of biological utopias that promote the possibility of human perfection. From the early twentieth-century international eugenics movements to present-day dreams of eliminating inherited disabilities through genetic manipulation, the issues remain timely.To make reservations for group visits, contact Francesca_Holinko@hms.harvard.edu.

The Brigham and Women’s Hospital Archives Lecture on hospital history was held at the Shaprio Center on February 22. Eugene Braunwald, M.D. and Peter Tishler, M.D. spoke to a packed audience about the life and career of Soma Weiss (1899–1942).

In 1939, Dr. Weiss was appointed the second Physician-in-chief of Peter Bent Brigham Hospital (PBBH) and concurrently appointed Hersey Professor of the Theory and Practice of Physic, (an appointment currently held by Dr. Braunwald) at Harvard Medical School. By the time of his unexpected death at the age of 43, he had become a renowned and influential Professor of Medicine and a prolific medical researcher. He produced more that two hundred publications in the fields of pathological physiology of cardiovascular disease and clinical pharmacology and therapeutics. Dr. Braunwald spoke about some of the pioneering research that Dr. Weiss conducted and surprised the audience with the fact that Dr. Weiss was one of the first people to ever publish statistics as a result of his clinical research.Dr. Tishler explored the life of Soma Weiss—his early days as a brilliant student and later his time as a beloved teacher whose inspiring and intellectually challenging methods influenced many young doctors, his kindness and skill as a physician helping the sick, and his untimely death from a brain aneurysm at the age of 43. Dr. Weiss’ son attended the event and shared some recollections of his father’s life at home.

During his tenure as Physician-in-chief of the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital, Dr. Weiss’ wrote Routine Practices. Medical Service of the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital, a small volume about the organization of the medical clinic and some of its practices, intended for residents and interns, that is still influential today. The Brigham and Women’s Hospital Archives has digitized Routine Practices. You can read at online via the Harvard Hollis catalog or by following this link: http://pds.lib.harvard.edu/pds/view/13832733?n=1&s=8